Trieu Van Viet Class VNP: 19 Topic: What is the impact of international remittances on poverty and inequality?

Evidence from Vietnam Research objective In Vietnam, foreign remittances have been increasing overtime. It is often argued that foreign remittances have contributed to economic development and poverty reduction. However, the question on quantitative impact of foreign remittances in Vietnam remains unanswered. Thus, the objective of the paper is to investigate the impacts of foreign remittances on poverty and inequality in Vietnam. Research question Do international remittances matter to Poverty and Inequality in Vietnam? Sub question Do international remittances reduce poverty in Vietnam? Do international remittances increase inequality in Vietnam? Methodology + Data: The paper uses data from the Vietnam Household and Living Standard Surveys in the years 2008 and 2010 + This paper uses fixed-effect regression to estimate the impacts of foreign remittances on poverty and inequality Measurement: The impact of remittances on poverty and inequality Poverty is often measured by three Foster-Greer-Thorbecke poverty indexes which can all be calculated using the following formula (Foster, Greer and Thorbecke, 1984) To measure inequality, there are three common measures of inequality: the Gini coefficient, Theils L index of inequality, and Theils T index of inequality.